Faculty Scholarship & Activities: Jan. 7, 2013

An unarmed black teenager was killed outside of a convenience store in Jacksonville when he was shot by a man following an argument in which the man said the teenager’s music was too loud. At the time, the shooter claimed Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law as his defense, drawing comparisons to the Trayvon Martin shooting earlier in the year. The man has since been charged with first degree murder to which he pled not guilty.

From the article:
Two weeks ago, a state task force deemed that the stand your ground law is, on the whole, sound and needs no major legislative reform. Florida has seen a growing number of “stand your ground” claims, even in prosecutions with minor injuries, says University of Florida law professor Bob Dekle. Stand your ground claims are successful about 70 percent of the time, according to a recent St. Petersburg Times analysis.

Omri Y. MarianAssistant Professor of Law

In early December, Marian returned from Beijing where he actively participated in the seventh Sino-U.S. International Tax Forum. As part of the forum he participated in round-table discussions on trends in international taxation at Peking University Law School, Tsinghua University Law School, Renmin University Law School and at the Central University of Finance and Economics, all in Beijing. He also presented his paper, “Jurisdiction to Tax Corporations,” at the China Youth University of Political Science who hosted the forum.

UF Law, along with the Center for Latin American Studies and the College of Education, will receive nearly $757,200 from the U.S. Agency for International Development through Higher Education for Development to create the Colombian Caribbean Human Rights Center. Over the next three years, UF will work with two universities in Colombia to enhance the human rights programs at their law schools. Mills quotes from the press release were used in the article.

From the article:
“Respect for the rights of individuals, especially vulnerable populations, is vital to the development of the democracy and economy of a nation,” said Jon Mills, who heads the law school’s Center for Governmental Responsibility and will help direct the new project. “We are honored to have this opportunity to work with two distinguished Colombian universities on such an important priority for the U.S. government.”

From the article:
“He is the profile of what you would expect a judge to be. He was smart, fair. He wrote some terrifically important opinions in education, privacy and a broad number of constitutional areas,” said UF Levin College of Law dean emeritus Jon Mills. “He was an independent thinker. When he was on the bench, he could look pretty fearful.”

Mills, also a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, said he had several cases before Overton when Overton was on the court but got to know him better once he started teaching at UF.

Overton cared deeply about teaching and would take his students to oral arguments at the Supreme Court, Mills said, adding the justices often would have lunch with Overton and the students.

Michael Allan WolfProfessor of Law; Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law

The Public Trust awards “Halos” and “Horns” each month in its e-newsletter and Wolf was awarded December’s “Halo” for his book, The Supreme Court and the Environment —The Reluctant Protector. Wolf has joined a list that includes Bob Graham, Nathaniel Reed, and Robert Kennedy, Jr. Click here for a link to this month’s e-newsletter.